Make a plan for managing your online classes. Part of your plan should include when and how you are going to post your assignments for your students to view. Similar to handing out a syllabus on the first day of class, you may decide to post all assignments in advance so that students can be fully responsible for completing their work or they can choose to finish their work in advance. Also schedule specific times you want to dedicate toward replying to e-mails, forum posts or other components of your online class.
Give your students regular feedback on their assignments. Since students are not able to see your non-verbal cues by watching your body language as you would in a normal class setting, written feedback should be explicit and clear so that there is no mistake about your thoughts concerning students' work.
Plan for flexibility in your class. According to Learning to Teach Online, it's a given that your students will not be on the same time schedule or even in the same time zone. Effective management of your online class also means effective time management for you as a teacher. Tips include working in smaller, more fragmented blocks of time to follow-up on the continuous discussion that often accompanies online learning environments.
Plan for open book tests by requiring critical thinking exercises rather than multiple choice tests. One of the advantages of online learning for the student is quick access to data for nearly every kind of question, ranging from who killed whom in Macbeth to being able to solve algebra problems with math calculators. As a result, unless you want to implement a closed-book honor code, offer essay and short answer questions that require students to examine and analyze the teaching material rather than spouting off answers that can be acquired through a search engine.